Altcoins and the Tron (CRYPTO: TRON) network are the preferred avenue for deposits and withdrawals over major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), data shows.
That's the case in at least one jurisdiction.
In South Korea, DeSpread Research shows that centralized exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit — sparked this trend.
Upbit, for example, accounts for about 80% of the Korean crypto exchange market. While globally recognized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have vast trading volumes worldwide, they surprisingly have low trading volumes on Upbit.
Instead, the majority of individual investors on Upbit are showing a strong inclination towards altcoins that offer high-profit potential, embracing the associated high risks.
Such coins are often referred to as "Kimchi Coins," which are predominantly traded by Korean investors and have a niche market within the Upbit platform.
Upbit users also use Tron over Ethereum for deposits and withdrawals, the research shows. Transactions on the Tron network are outpacing those on Ethereum by a factor of 5 due to lower fees and rapid transaction processing.
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Daily (CRYPTO: USDT) transactions via the Tron network reach up to 2 million, in stark contrast to Ethereum's roughly 100,000 transactions.
It seems that South Korean investors primarily use the exchanges for crypto trading, accessing products offered by overseas exchanges that are unavailable on Korean centralized platforms, such as futures markets and margin trading.
While the Ethereum network boasts the highest TVL and the most on-chain protocols, Korean investors are more interested in transferring funds between centralized exchanges and local ones rather than using on-chain products.
The number of crypto investors in South Korea was projected to reach 6 million in the first half of 2023, accounting for over 10% of the nation's total population.
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